Recent Policy Documents: July 2005

Policy News and Research on Fathers

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Fathers and Mothers in Prison

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• "Voices of Experience: Focus Group Findings from the State of Rhode Island," by Jesse Jannetta, Nancy G. La Vigne, and Samuel J. Wolf

  http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=95

  This report describes findings from seven focus groups involving Rhode Island service providers and current and released prisoners. The discussions, which addressed a variety of subjects  related to prisoner reentry, highlighted such themes as a lack of coordination between the department of corrections and state and local service providers, the belief that prisoners are not adequately prepared for reentry prior to their release, and a consensus that the demand for community services to assist released prisoners far exceeds the supply.

   

   

Child Support, Custody, and Fathers

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Children and Families

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• "Are Low-Income Households Accumulating Assets and Avoiding Unhealthy Debt?" by Robert Lerman

  http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9302

  Building up assets and avoiding excessive debt can help families insure against unforeseen disruptions, achieve economic independence, and reach the middle class. Asset building, however, can be difficult for many low- and moderate-income families, who must overcome economic obstacles and work off high liabilities to accumulate adequate net worth. This brief examines the levels of assets and debts and the saving behaviors of representative samples of families. The report identifies populations least able to accumulate assets and looks at factors linked to asset building in financially vulnerable households.

• Recommendations Regarding the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act by Julie Strawn and Amy-Ellen Duke. These recommendations were submitted to Chairman Mike Enzi of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 28, 2005. They recommend changes to the Higher Education Act to ensure that higher education policies and funding streams at the federal, state, and local levels support the workforce education role of postsecondary institutions and meet the needs of the nontraditional students typically enrolled in occupational programs, particularly working adults and older youth who are on their own financially.

  http://www.clasp.org/publications/hea_recs_to_help.pdf

• Bill to Help Educators Pay Classroom Expenses

   It’s estimated that a K-12 teacher spends an average of $443 of her or his own money each year on classroom materials. A new bill -- the "Teacher Tax Relief Act of 2005" (H.R. 2989), introduced in the House last week by Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI) with bipartisan support -- would increase from $250 to $400 a tax deduction for educator expenses, broaden the deduction to include out-of-pocket professional development expenses, and make it a permanent part of the tax code. The National Education Association urges concerned adults to contact their Representatives to make their voice heard about this bill.

  http://capwiz.com/nea/utr/1/JOIPEUVKZT/KGPQEUVLCL/

• A Blueprint for Juvenile Justice Reform

   The Youth Transition Funding Group’s Juvenile Justice Work Group offers a new resource on the challenges and opportunities to improve the administration of justice for youth across the country. It highlights innovative reforms and partnerships between foundations and public systems. It also provides a partial list of resources in the field.

  http://www.ytfg.org/documents/Platform_Juvenile_Justice.pdf

• New Tools for Youth Work

   The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development offers toolkits to help community organizations work better with young people and evaluate their impact. “Reflect and Improve: Engaging Youth and Adults as Partners in Program Evaluation” provides tips to help youth and adults use evaluation to strengthen programs; communicate with funders, boards and stakeholders; and identify opportunities. “Learning and Leading: A Toolkit for Youth Development and Civic Activism” helps engage young people as they hone their personal, organizational, and community leadership abilities. Free excerpts are available online.

  http://www.theinnovationcenter.org

   

Welfare Reform

• "Improving Homeownership Among Poor And Moderate-Income Households," by Elizabeth Bell, Adam Carasso, Edgar Olsen, and Eugene Steuerle

  http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9301

  While homeownership may not be for everyone, strong disincentives are created by federal policies that subsidize rentals by poor families but cut off subsidies for those who choose to buy. Meanwhile, federal tax incentives for homeownership only go to those households owing tax--and typically the higher their income and the more expensive their homes, the larger the tax subsidy they receive. The authors conclude that a significant change in ownership incentives is needed to correct this inequity and better promote homeownership among the poor.

• Getting the Market Right for Working Families

   In testimony presented today before the Philadelphia City Council, Bruce Katz outlined the conclusions and policy prescriptions of the Metropolitan Policy Program report The Price Is Wrong, which examines how thousands of dollars can be drained from the budgets of working families through higher prices for everyday goods and services. While some of these high prices have been documented—for example, the egregious interest rates of payday lenders and the refund anticipation loans often used by Earned Income Tax Credit recipients—the report, co-authored by Matthew Fellowes and Katz, finds price disparities between low-wage households and better off households exist for nearly every basic good and service. Through market transparency, accountability, and innovation, the authors argue, the market can be made to function better for working households to the benefit of the entire city.

  http://www.brookings.edu/views/testimony/katz/20050614.htm

• Side-by-Side Comparison of Child Support and Fatherhood Program Provisions in Welfare Reauthorization Bills by Vicki Turetsky. This chart summarizes the marriage and fatherhood provisions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization bill passed by the House Human Resources Subcommittee and the one passed by the Senate Finance Committee.

  http://www.clasp.org/publications/cs_sbs_060605.pdf

• Side-by-Side Comparison of Child Support and Fatherhood Program Provisions in Welfare Reauthorization Bills by Vicki Turetsky. This chart summarizes the marriage and fatherhood provisions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization bill passed by the House Human Resources Subcommittee and the one passed by the Senate Finance Committee.

  http://www.clasp.org/publications/cs_sbs_060605.pdf

• "Social Security Smorgasbord? Lessons from Sweden's Individual Pension Accounts" Policy Brief by R. Kent Weaver (June 2005)

  http://www.brookings.edu/comm/policybriefs/pb140.htm

• "Tax Policies to Help Working Families in Cities" by Alan Berube, William G. Gales, and Tracy Kornblatt; Brookings Metropolitan

  Policy Program (June 2005)

  http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/200506_taxpolicies.htm